


Do You Let Me Stumble?

by tmhector



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Art, Art History, Digital Art, Fanart, Mecha, Other, Rare Characters, Season: Twilight Mirage, Secret Samol 2018, Size Difference (for the mechs)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-06 11:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17344532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tmhector/pseuds/tmhector
Summary: An excerpt from Arnhem Bellrush’s “Wild Fires: a Survey and History of the Representation of the Divines Beyond and Before the Principality”.





	Do You Let Me Stumble?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mellific](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellific/gifts).



> [click thru the image for better detail, this is the smallest I could get it to embed well on ao3. if you've ever seen The Shock of the New, imagine the museum text being read in Robert Hughes' voice.]

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/grandmoff_terrence/45931454414/in/dateposted-public/)

_**Do You Let Me Stumble?** _

Artist Unknown  
Completed during the First Cadency of the New Divine Fleet PM.00001-PM.00206  
Vector Lineaments suspended in Viscous Glass  
Early Second Fleet Style  
Mural on display in its original location on Privign Station

* * *

 

This piece depicts a small but significant skirmish during the struggle against Volition and Crystal Palace in the Twilight Mirage which supposedly took place PM.00002.7.08.12.00. In the foundational histories of the Divine Fleet, this skirmish marks the first collaboration between Belgard, one of the last surviving Divines of the Old Divine Fleet, and Barricade, which had only recently been converted from a rogue Axiom.

The placement of the figures in the mural subdivide it into three distinct sections. Barricade occupies the center of the image, charing towards a mass of Iconoclasts to the left, with Belgard on the right of the image, observing the fray. Unlike the other two primary subjects, Belgard protrudes from her space within the image; her shields are reaching out to embrace Barricade as they almost elude her protection. The title of the piece reflects a verse from the annals of the fleet describing this specific action in the encounter.

The sigil-like halos marking the divinity of Belgard and Barricade confirm both their identity and the identity of their Excerpts. Although significant portions of the Exceprt’s names are inscrutable due to the artistic decision to position the halos behind the divines, enough text remains to conclusively identify both. Belgard’s excerpt at the time was [They marked scars of light in pitch; born in fiercest purpose, and beheld as the ⸢Signet⸣ sealed upon our pact,], and Barricade’s excerpt, their first, was [The seal was broken by ⸢Silver⸣ blade, slipped neatly under letter's edge].

Transactional records obtained* from new fleet suggest that ⸢Signet⸣ provided patronage. The mural would have served her a twofold purpose; first, to propagandize herself as a foundational member of the fleet in her rivalry with The Waking Cadent, and second as a gift and symbol of their friendship to ⸢Silver⸣, cementing their personal and political connections.

While the dominant figures in the narrative are simple to identify with some research, the surrounding spacescape has led to minor disagreements in the interpretation of the mural. The white slash through the nebulous space of the Twilight Mirage was originally though to be the Aperture through which the New Divine Fleet began their journey. However, retroastronomic calculations by Weyerbach Sechsundsechzig show that the Aperture had not opened at the date and time the event is recorded to have taken place. Instead, they claim it is the corona of Volition, with a faint body of Volition visible behind Belgard.

Outsiders are often confused by the strange construction and arrangement in this depiction of Barricade. However, those surveyed from the New Divine Fleet however are familiar with the apocryphal legends of ⸢Silver’s⸣ life before their excerptship, in which they spread justice in their pseudodivine synthetic known as ‘Melodica”, which is said to have been composed of remnants of deceased divines (NB: a colleague of mine claims that at least one arm and possibly other components may come from the legendary ancient divine Detachment, although visual support for this is entirely secondary). This form is the scaffolding on which branching coral grows. The purpose of the forms mounted to Barricade’s shoulders remains unknown.

-from Chapter 4: Our Cousins Amongst the Stars in Arnhem Bellrush’s “Wild Fires: a Survey and History of the Representation of the Divines Beyond and Before the Principality”.

{Editor's Note: Visual resources, derivative, and interpretive works based on this mural can be found [HERE](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RYqWoqZ2J91YnbVp51QoCGvL3V88FyEL?usp=sharing)}

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Secret Samol! I had a great time working on this, and I hope you enjoy it and that it fills the need for renaissance paintings from the fleet...
> 
> Here's a link to the full size painting, individual images of Belgard, Barricade, pre-divine Melodica and the divine's Halos.
> 
> Be sure to look at the full sized image, embedding it doesn't quite do it justice.
> 
> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RYqWoqZ2J91YnbVp51QoCGvL3V88FyEL?usp=sharing
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> -tmhector


End file.
